


Charlotte's Web

by Hairofgoldeyesofblue



Category: The Newsroom (US TV)
Genre: Baby Fic, Charlotte-verse, F/M, Family, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-28
Updated: 2014-07-28
Packaged: 2018-02-10 17:54:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2034486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hairofgoldeyesofblue/pseuds/Hairofgoldeyesofblue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Mackenzie first told Sloan she was pregnant, she hadn’t believed her. (Sloan felt bad about that part for months to come.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Charlotte's Web

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is inspired by my own little Charlotte, her mother, and our friendship during her pregnancy, because I just couldn't resist after I held that beautiful baby in my arms for the first time last week.

On Monday morning, Sloan woke to a text from Mackenzie. The message had been left an hour and a half before – ninety-five minutes, to be precise – and all it said was “Labor.”

That one word was more effective at getting Sloan up than any alarm ever had been. She leapt out of bed, struggling to get herself untangled from the blankets without crashing to the floor in a heap. There was no point in replying to Mackenzie’s message – she would obviously be preoccupied with more important things than her phone for the next however many hours – but she sent her a quick “Good luck! I love you!” anyway.

Sloan had known about Mackenzie’s pregnancy for a _long_ time; ever since they’d gone out to dinner a week after her return from two weeks in Italy with Will. While Mackenzie may have still been on the high of her vacation, Sloan was ready to unwind from all the usual newsroom stress that had been plaguing her. So, when she headed straight for the bar to order a drink and Mackenzie declined, Sloan took one look at her and said, “You’re pregnant.”

“No, I’m not!” Mackenzie had insisted. “Being on vacation just inspired me to start on a health kick – I’m giving up alcohol and coffee. I’ve only been drinking water lately, and I’m eating a lot more fruit.”

Sloan had rolled her eyes, because _seriously,_ there was no way in hell Mackenzie would be able to give up coffee. Her friend had held strong though until she finally gave up and had moved onto other topics of conversation. That didn’t mean that Sloan wouldn’t throw a teasing remark about how Mackenzie was “probably pregnant” out every once in awhile.

When Mackenzie finally gave up and said, “Actually, I really _am_ pregnant” Sloan hadn’t believed her. (She _did_ feel bad about that part for months to come.) Mackenzie had had to show her a photo of the positive pregnancy test on her phone.  That shut Sloan up.

She gaped for about four seconds before spouting out some word vomit that included the phrases: “ _I knew it_ ,” “I can’t believe it,” and “ _Wait, seriously?! For real?!_ ” What came after was a lengthy explanation of how she’d come to realize she was pregnant so early (“Trust me, Sloan, it happened in Italy.”), a promise not to tell _anyone_ , and much squealing and shrieking.

Sloan sat on the news impatiently for weeks because Will didn’t know Mackenzie had told her, and she had promised not to tell Don. Much of her time was now being spent huddled with Mackenzie in one of their offices whispering together or talking via text message while they discussed any blossoming symptoms and anxiously waited for the dreaded morning sickness to arrive. (It was strange to defy stereotype and know about a pregnancy _before_ the morning sickness started.)

Sloan could tell when the morning sickness started because Mackenzie took the day off, possibly for the first time e _ver_. Will walked into the conference room and announced that Jim would be running the show for the day – and possibly tomorrow – because Mackenzie had the flu. Everyone else seemed surprised and mildly concerned, but got over it quickly, and within a few minutes things were back to normal. Sloan, however, stared Will down until the meeting was over and she followed him back to his office.

“I take it you know?” he asked her with a tired smile.

Sloan nodded enthusiastically as if a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders. “How is she?”

“Not good. The alarm went off at 7:30 and as soon as she lifted her head off the pillow, she started throwing up. She didn’t make it to the bathroom in time, so I had to do laundry and change the bed and do some cleaning before I came in.” – Sloan wrinkled her nose – “She stopped around nine, and I think that was only because there wasn’t anything left in her stomach. She was still dry heaving a little when I left, but she was back in bed and she thinks she’ll be okay. She’s just feeling really weak and nauseous, you know? I wanted to stay home with her, but she wouldn’t let me because she didn’t want anyone to suspect anything. I think I’m going to sneak home for a little bit this afternoon though and check on her.”

“Do you want me to go over later? We can cut my segment tonight and I can go sit with her after _Market Wrap-Up_?”

“I’ll ask her. She might just want to be alone though. She mentioned something about how she was really glad I had made the whole ‘in sickness and in health’ vow so she didn’t have to wallow in misery alone. Well, I guess she kind of kicked me out when she told me I had to come to work, but Charlie told me once that you’re supposed to appease the pregnant mother of your child, so I’m not sure if that really counts as keeping the vow?” he shook his head, getting lost in his own ramble – “I guess we’ll just play it by ear. I’ll keep you posted.”

Mackenzie had politely rejected the offer, saying she was just going to sleep through the evening anyway, so Sloan might as well do her segments on TV. The following day was much of the same. When Sloan shot Will a questioning look when Mackenzie missed work for the third day, he gave her a grim look and shook his head. Thankfully, it was Friday, and by the time Monday rolled around, Mackenzie had returned, looking thinner and paler. She wore pants (a rare occurrence) and flats (an even rarer one) and moved slower than usual.

“Will knows how to braid hair now,” Mackenzie mentioned to Sloan, running her fingers through her hair – which had grown several inches since their wedding. “He found a video on Youtube and figured it out the other day. I had been complaining that it kept getting in the way when I was throwing up – because there’s too much of it now to just put up in a ponytail – and the next thing I knew, he was teaching himself how to braid my hair.”

“That’s adorable,” Sloan grinned affectionately.

“ _I know!_ He mumbled something about how he remembered his mom braiding his sisters’ hair to keep it out of their faces when they were little, so I think that’s where he got the idea. It’ll be cute now if the baby is a girl because she can have Daddy do her hair every day. I mean, I certainly don’t know how to do it. When I was a little girl, I would never sit still long enough for my mother to do anything fancy to mine.”

In the coming days and weeks, Mackenzie’s body settled into a state of constant queasiness and she spent a lot more time sitting down than anyone was used to. If anyone else had started to suspect anything though, they kept quiet. Mercifully, by the beginning of the second trimester, the doctor had given Mackenzie some sort of pregnancy anti-nausea medication that Sloan couldn’t remember the name of, but apparently worked like a charm. She never missed a pill (she _couldn’t_ if she was going to continue to function), and eventually she felt it was safe enough to go out in public without the possibility that photographs of her losing her lunch would end up in the next issue of TMI.

Unlike the news of their engagement, when Mackenzie and Will began telling other members of the staff, they did it quietly. Sloan suspected the couple was worried about jinxing their good fortune in conceiving so easily – neither was getting any younger, after all. Slowly the news started to trickle through the newsroom; Charlie had been told soon after Sloan, and Jim a couple weeks into the nausea phase, but they waited until after New Year’s to call each of the others into Will’s office under the pretext of a ‘performance review’ and break the news. (Needless to say, Sloan thought some of the staffers left the conferences looking relieved after finding out its true purpose.)

Mid-winter brought the first signs of a baby bump, and it was hard to tell whether Mackenzie had given up wearing loose-fitting blouses now that most people knew, or whether her belly was _really_ starting to make that much of an impression. Mackenzie’s belly wasn’t the only part of her expanding, and she and Sloan spent idle moments giggling to each other about the newly acquired C (and later D) breasts that she was trying to fit into her B-sized bras. Even though Will was understandably enjoying the new development very much – and everyone knew it – he blushed every time he caught them talking about it, until finally, before lunch one day, he slipped Sloan his American Express Black card and told her to please drag his wife out to “ _buy some bras that fit already_.” (Consequently, that shopping spree also coordinated well with Valentines Day.)

The decision of finding out the baby’s gender had never been an issue; both Will and Mackenzie hated surprises, and wanted to be as prepared for the baby as they possibly could – even in terms of what color to paint the nursery. The plan was that they’d get back from their appointment in time for the final rundown and break the news to everyone at once, but that plan flew out the window when Sloan received a text message ahead of time that said, “ _It’s a girl!_ ” in capital letters and with a lot of accompanying exclamation marks.

That was the day the McBaby (as Leona had nicknamed it) officially became known as Charlotte. It was the only name for a girl that Will and Mackenzie had even considered; partially after Charlie, and partially just because they liked the name. (“I’m old and she’s mostly British, there’s no way we could name our daughter Olivia or Allison or something modern,” Will had argued.) They chose “Anne” for Charlotte’s middle name, after Mackenzie’s mother, and with that, naming the baby had been a surprisingly easy task.

Now that she knew to expect a girl, Mackenzie was going overboard on the shopping, and Sloan kept complaining that there wouldn’t be anything left to buy by the time of the baby shower in late April. Everyone seemed to have found their own gift niche; Mackenzie was spoiling her daughter with a wardrobe that rivaled the size of her own, Will was taking care of the practical things like a stroller and car seat, Charlie and Leona had turned a spare office on the _News Night_ floor into a little nursery, Jim kept gifting the couple with toys, Maggie had thrown all of her energy into knitting a blanket, and even Don had gotten in on the action and bought Charlotte more stuffed animals than she’d ever know what to do with. That left Sloan wandering aimlessly around the baby boutiques until she found herself in front of a rack full of books – everything from Dr. Seuss to _Goodnight, Moon_ to _Pat the Bunny_ to _The Giving Tree._ It became a little project for her to find copies of all the ones she remembered from her own childhood. (She even found a beautiful old edition of _Charlotte’s Web_ , because really, she had to, even if it would be years before Charlotte would be old enough for it.) When Mackenzie and Will opened the carefully arranged basket of books at the shower, they both got misty eyed at the sight of their daughter’s little library. Mackenzie nearly tackled her in a fierce hug (not that it was that difficult these days with the extra weight), and Sloan was proud of her contribution to her surrogate niece’s future.

Mackenzie’s nausea started to wean slightly by the third trimester, much to the relief of everyone, and life started to get impossibly more exciting. One could even dare to call it relaxing – or as relaxing as it could be with an eight-month-pregnant Executive Producer waddling around the newsroom. Despite her desire to work up until the birth, they had too many things to do in preparation, so Mackenzie gave in and went on maternity leave for the final month. Her days were spent doing laundry, getting organized, and calling into the rundown meetings from her comfortable spot on the couch. They’d chosen a Classic Winnie the Pooh theme for the nursery, and the weekends were now spent painting the nursery and putting together furniture.

“So, apparently vaginal tearing is a _really_ common thing,” Mackenzie announced one Saturday, as she flipped through a pregnancy website on her iPad while the women “supervised” the men putting together Charlotte’s crib. “Do you think I should just ask them to cut me open instead? It says that’s less painful for when they have to sew me up afterwards…” There was a loud thud and she looked up.

Don had dropped the hammer and his mouth was hanging open. She couldn’t see Will’s face because his head was buried in his hands. Sloan, however, had on a look of horror – no doubt because of the words “vaginal tearing.”

“I’d really rather not think about either possibility,” Sloan mumbled, making Mackenzie laugh.

“Yeah, can we not talk about it either?” Don asked.

“I’m just saying, Will, we’re going to need to be prepared for this. Don’t forget, I’m putting you in charge of my birth plan so that when I’m swearing and screaming in pain you can do all my talking for me with the hospital staff.”

Will reached over and grabbed the iPad out of her hands, flipping the cover shut. “O-kay, that’s enough reading for you for today. We’ll figure it out when the time comes.”

The forty-week mark came and went, and the time still hadn’t come. Mackenzie was irritable and anxious and excited, and _just wanted the baby out_. She holed herself up in the air conditioned apartment, leaving Will to deal with the constant questioning of “Mackenzie _still_ hasn’t had the baby yet?” He looked relieved as they closed in on week forty-one and Sloan practically shoved him out of the studio and volunteered to anchor the show that night.

It was three days later – the 21st of July – that Sloan woke up to the text from Mackenzie. (Why the message came from her and not Mackenzie’s mother – who had gotten to town the week before – or Will, as the carefully laid out contingency plan had stated, Sloan didn’t bother to question.)

She made it to work in record time, purely so she’d have _something_ to do while she waited for an update. A few hours later, and Sloan still hadn’t heard anything; neither had Jim. Around 12:15, they finally called Charlie and found out that the last thing he’d heard was that Mackenzie had been five centimeters dilated at 10:30. He promised to let them know if he heard anything further. Sloan excitedly paced the bullpen and did her best to not look too happy while talking about the latest economic crisis on live television.

A few minutes before one o’clock, a text from Charlie lit up her phone.

_Just heard from Anne McHale that the baby’s here. More as the story develops._

Sloan stopped in the middle of the bullpen where she’d been walking back to her office and let out a shriek when she read the message. Everyone turned to look at her. When she broke into a wide grin and announced, “Mac had the baby!” the whole staff cheered.

There was another message from Charlie a few minutes later. It was a photo, likely taken by Will, of a puffy, red-faced Mackenzie with strands of hair (braided, Sloan noted) plastered to her forehead, looking as if she were in a state of shock and awe as a little vermix-covered baby was placed in her arms.

The next few hours were a blur of activity and excitement in the newsroom as the _News Night_ staff celebrated the baby and prepared for the night’s broadcast. Sloan was anchoring that night, and with a combination of Jim and Don in her ear, she couldn’t keep a sparkling grin off her face. She was high on life by the time they came back from the final commercial break.

“Finally tonight we have a special announcement. I am _very_ happy to announce the birth of Charlotte Anne McAvoy, the daughter of my dear friends Mackenzie McHale and Will McAvoy. Charlotte was born early this afternoon, and we’ve been told that both the McAvoy women are doing wonderfully. To Will and Mac – if you’re watching this right now, we can’t wait to have you back in the newsroom, but until then, enjoy your precious little bundle of joy. We can’t wait to meet her. I’m Sloan Sabbith, and for all of us here at _News Night_ , good night.”

Everyone gave Mackenzie and Will some privacy the first night, but on Tuesday, Sloan eagerly rushed off to the hospital in between _Market Mid-Day_ and _Market Wrap-Up_. On the way, she stopped at Giggle and purchased the softest baby blanket she’d ever touched.

When she knocked softly on the closed hospital room door, she heard Will’s voice invite her in. She gently pushed open the door and stuck her head into the room.

“ _Hi_ ,” Sloan said quietly, heart melting at the sight before her. Mackenzie was on the bed, cradling a tiny little bundle of baby in her arms, while Will stood next to her. They both looked up when she stepped into the room.

“Hey, Sloan!” the new parents responded with matching grins on their faces.

“Congratulations, guys!”

“Thank you!”

Will quickly stepped over to pull Sloan into a tight hug. Before she knew it, she was seated on the little sofa nearby and he was carefully transferring the baby into her arms.

“Wait,” Sloan lightly protested, “I’ve never held a newborn before! I don’t know what I’m doing!”

“Just relax,” Will said, expertly making sure his daughter was secure in her arms. “Make sure you support her head.”

Sloan sat stiffly in the chair, afraid to move or adjust her arms. (Over the past few months, she’d developed the irrational fear that Charlotte wouldn’t like her since no matter how many times Mackenzie had tried to coax the baby into kicking when Sloan had her hand on her belly, she stubbornly wouldn’t oblige.)

“See, you’ve got her. Just relax, Sloan,” Mackenzie told her. “You’re okay.”

Sloan carefully sat back in the chair and really looked at the baby in her arms for the first time. “Hi, Charlotte,” she said gently before glancing up at Mackenzie and Will again. “So how was it?”

“It was amazing,” Will said immediately. “Mac was incredible. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

The woman in question smiled fondly at him before saying, “It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. So worth it though. I’m really glad I didn’t have any of the drugs or anything. It went perfectly and the midwife was great.”

Sloan sat in awe turning her gaze from baby to parents and back again as she listened to them recount the labor and delivery with a kind of love and pride that trumped anything she’d ever seen. There was talk of how Mackenzie had torn badly and it had taken a long time to sew her up, and how _fast_ the labor had gone for a first pregnancy, and even which tactic jumpstarted her contractions. (“For future reference, the whole ‘sex-induces-labor’ thing is actually true,” Mackenzie had told her with a laugh.) Meanwhile, Charlotte slept soundly in her aunt’s arms, only making little squeaking noises every once in awhile that they assured her were normal until Mackenzie took her daughter back so she could breastfeed her.

While Sloan was on her way back to AWM, she marveled at the tiny, beautiful person her friends had created. Charlotte Anne McAvoy, with her little fingers and toes, and her long legs, and her head of dark hair that Will and Mac were convinced would fall out and turn blonde, and the big eyes she’d inherited from her mother, and the mouth she’d inherited from Will. (No one was really sure yet where her nose had come from.) Sloan couldn’t wait to love and spoil her, and she couldn’t remember another time when her heart had been so full of love. The cliché was always that “having a baby changes everything,” and while that was definitely true for the couple _having_ the baby, it was also true for the other people around. Sloan had watched two of her best friends blossom and grow into parenthood.

It was kind of unbelievable, really. Nine months ago, Charlotte hadn’t even existed, and then all of a sudden, she did. From one second to the next, she was growing organs and hair and bones and muscles, and at the same time, the little ACN “News Family” was maturing, and growing closer and tighter. When Will and Mac had transformed into parents, everyone else had effortlessly fallen into the respective roles of aunt or uncle (or in Charlie’s case, grandpa). After the rough couple of years they’d all had, it was an imperfect web of lives, but soon it would be mended and sewn back together where needed – all thanks to one little girl.

Sloan was sure none of them wanted it any other way.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
